Aerated eye cup with air storage vessel



July 19, 1966 H. BURBIG AERATED EYE CUP WITH AIR STORAGE VESSEL Filed March 11, 1964 INVENTOR. Henry Burbig ATTORNEY.

United "States Patent 3,261,355 AERATED EYE CUP WITH AIR STGRAGE VESSEL Henry Bnrbig, 1519 Metropolitan Ave., Bronx 62, N.Y. Filed Mar. '11, 1964, Ser. No. 350,979 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-249) This invention relates to improvements in aerated eye cups in which the liquid within the eye cup is adapted to be continuously aerated so that the eye can be washed with liquids which can be agitated by air and which contain minute air bubbles.

The idea of agitating the liquid in an eye cup with air so that it is not necessary to throw the head back to cause the liquid to bathe the eye, is not new. The idea is disclosed, for example in Sagers Patent No. 1,900,201, Watrous US. Patent No. 2,524,720 and De Felices US. Patent No. 2,818,068. The present invention involves a different construction by which air is fed to the eye cup in a uniform and continuous manner and in which the rate of feed of air to the eye cup can be fairly well controlled by the operator.

Among the objects of the invention therefore is to provide an improved aerated eye cup constructed so as to feed air to the eye cup in a continuous and uniform manner.

The objects of the invention are attained by providing an eye cup with valve means for supplying air projecting into it, a means for providing air under pressure, and an air pressure chamber between the eye cup and the airpressure-supplying-means. The means for providing air pressure is connected by a one way valve to the air pressure chamber and the valve projecting into the eye cup is a one way valve with its inlet end connected to the pressure chamber. The valve means projecting into the eye cup is constructed and arranged to have a smaller capacity for passing air than the valve of the air pressure supplying means to the chamber, so that air pressure can be built up in the chamber. This latter effect can be obtained in various ways. Where both valves are constructed in the same way, for example, the outlet openings of the eye cup valve can be smaller and/ or fewer in number than the outlet openings in the air-pressure-providing valve or where elastomeri-c, one-way valves are employed, the valve in the eye cup can be made of thicker or stiffer material than that attached to the pressure supply means.

Other and more detailed objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification and appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

.FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in side elevation of an aerated eye cup made according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the air pressure device of FIG. 1 taken from above the same.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device.

The device of the invention comprises the eye cup 10, the pressure vessel 20 and the pressure supplying means 30. The eye cup has the conventional smooth top rim portion 11, the bowl portion 12 and includes a short tubular portion 13 including an opening 14 at the lower end adapted to fit snugly into the opening 21 of the pressure vessel 20. Extending upwardly from the interior of the vessel 20, through the opening 14, is the one way valve means 15 comprising a lower flange portion 16, and an upper bulbous portion 17, which contains one or more slits 18. Passageway 19 extends from the flanged end 16 up to the interior edges of slots 18. The valve 15 is held in position and in turn holds the cup 10 in position by means of washer 22. The flange end 16 and washer Patented'July 19, 1966 "ice 22 are preferablyof such a size that they can be forced through opening 21 of vessel 20.

The cup 10 may be constructed of metal or plastic material, while the valve 15 is constructed of flexible or elastomericplastic material so. that said valve 15 is one way, in the sense that liquid or air does not pass from the outside through said slots 18 while air under pressure applied through the passageway 19 can escape through said slots 18.

The pressure vessel 20 may be constructed of glass, metal, stiff plastic or flexible plastic material. When several of the parts including the vessel 20 are constructed of plastic material, a more secure connection can be obtained by ultrasonic or similar frictional welding techniques or by heat and pressure. An additional washer 22 may be inserted between flange 16 and the edges of opening 21 of vessel 20.

The pressure supplying means 30 is shown as a small plastic bellows having an opening 31 at one or both ends which the fingers close in the act of applying pressure to the same. When said bellows 30 is collapsed with said opening 31 closed, the compressed air from inside the bellows is forced through tube 32. Other conventional types of pressure means, such as syringes, bulbs, etc., may be substituted for the bellows 30. The tube 32 from bellows 30 extends into a valve means 33 comprising a passageway extending from the outside up to the bulb end 34. The bulb end 34 contains one or more slits 35 connecting to said passage 39. The valve member 33 contains an outer flange portion 36 and preferably includes a ridge portion 37 which can be forced through the opening 25 of vessel 20.

As indicated above, the size and number of slits 35 in valve 33 is somewhat greater than the size and number of slits 18 in valve 15 and preferably this difference is substantial so that the valve 33 is constructed to deliver substantially greater amounts of air per unit of time than valve 15. This permits one to store adequate amounts of air under pressure in vessel 20 so that the flow of air from valve 15 lasts for a considerable time without interruption. In devices where a pressure supplying air bulb is connected directly to an eye cup, the flow of air to the latter is interrupted each time pressure on the bulb is released and the amount of air pressure that can be supplied is limited since, when the bulb is released and allowed to expand, the pressure inside the same is never greater than the surrounding atmospheric pressure. With the 'device of the present invention, the air pressure in vessel 20 can be maintained above atmospheric pressure for :as long a period as desired and pressure can be built up in said chamber 20 by operating bellows 30, until the degree of agitation desired is obtained in the eye cup 10 and this amount of agitation can be maintained as long as desired by continuing to operate bellows 30.

The features and principles underlying the invention described above in connection with specific exemplifications will suggest to those skilled in the art many other modifications thereof. It is accordingly desired that the appended claims shall not be limited to any specific feature or details thereof.

Iclaim:

1. An eye bathing device of the type supplying air agitation to the bathing liquid, the improved construction comprising in combination,

an eye cup, an air pressure supplying means and an air pressure vessel between the eye cup and the pressure supplying means,

means connecting said air pressure supplying means to the pressure vessel comprising a first one way valve constructed and arranged to feed air into said air pressure vessel but not out of said vessel, means connecting said air pressure vessel to said eye cup comprising a second one Way valve constructed and arranged to feed air to an internal portion of said eye cup but not into said pressure vessel, the capacity of said first one Way valve to feed air per unit of time being greater than the capacity of said second one Way valve whereby pressure may be stored in said pressure vessel. 2. The eye bathing device as claimed in claim 1 in which said air pressure supplying means is a bellows device.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 1907 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

R. L. FRINKS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN EYE BATHING DEVICE OF THE TYPE SUPPLYING AIR AGITATION TO THE BATHING LIQUID, THE IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, AN EYE CUP, AN AIR PRESSURE SUPPLYING MEANS AND AN AIR PRESSURE VESSEL BETWEEN THE EYE CUP AND THE PRESSURE SUPPLING MEANS, MEANS CONNECTING SAID AIR PRESSURE SUPPLYING MEANS TO THE PRESSURE VESSEL COMPRISING A FIRST ONE WAY VALVE CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO FEED AIR INTO SAID AIR PRESSURE VESSEL BUT NOT OUT OF SAID VESSEL, MEANS CONNECTING SAID AIR PRESSURE VESSEL TO SAID EYE CUP COMPRISING A SECOND ONE WAY VALVE CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO FEED AIR TO AN INTERNAL PORTION OF SAID EYE CUP BUT NOT INTO SAID PRESSURE VESSEL, 